Nations act as though the careful plans of their military and intelligence operations can harness the chaos of combat and guide it to advance their interests. Then the unthinkable happens collateral damage in the lives of real children occur.

Tuesday July 22, 2014, 10:34 pm
The sinking of the Luistania (sp?) was considered horrific in WWII because it was unarmed civilians (although it carried arms shipments) which violated the rules of war and why so much of the world turned against the Nazis--seems a fitting parallel and one would hope much of the world would find the killing of innocent children and other civilians in Gaza with intentionality equally horrific.

Wednesday July 23, 2014, 3:19 am
The best way USA can do something constructive in this two conflicts is to stop all militar and financial aid to Israel and to the second:Fast-track the membership of Ukrain into NATO,that would stop Putin once and for all.

Wednesday July 23, 2014, 5:53 am
When you hide behind women and children - as the Americans tried with the Lusitania. the Lusitania, She had been seized by the admiralty (they had a deal to take over a lot of large vessels in the event of war) and added to their list of combatant vessels, however then she was released and return to civilian service and supposedly no longer a legit target....HOWEVER seh remain onthe lists as a admiralty vessel, also under the rules of the sea and engagement and ship flying the flag of a cambatant nation and engaged in war related activities was a legitimate target (and everyone was warned against travelling on such ships,it was also illegal to ship arms or munitions on a passanger ship or to submit a false manifest).

Wednesday July 23, 2014, 6:43 am
Again, war only helps the 1%, and the rest of our world population has to suffer. It breaks my heart that little kids have to endure war, and are being killed.
PEACE please!

Wednesday July 23, 2014, 5:28 pm
The Germans tried to get rid of Jews, now the Jews are trying the same cruel thing on the Palestinians, too many cruel people and country leaders on this planet, thankfully I live in Australia.

Wednesday July 23, 2014, 8:35 pm
gee we used to hate the Germans, the Japanese, Russians and Vietnamese. Interesting that we buy products and spend vacations there like we have always been "old friends". Too bad we can't see that the PEOPLE are the friends and the governments are the enemies.
Not all Americans liked Bush, not all Americans like Obama. We are people. The governments, like corporations are NOT people!

Thursday July 24, 2014, 12:57 pm
"But when innocent children die while playing on the beach, every justification rings hollow, every precaution is revealed to be callously inadequate. When a child's lifeless body lies in a Ukrainian field to which it has fallen from the sky, the prevarications and plausible deniability that may have been useful in managing less horrifying incidents lose their effectiveness. "

It just never stops, does it? Not since we came down from the trees have we been able to stop killing each other. Even in the oldest chronicles of history, the bible, the injunction was (blamed of course on an unseen God, which is a handy thing to have when one does horrific things to others) to take the land and kill every man, woman and child - so the children would not grow up and come looking for revenge. This same thinking justifies rape as a tool of war, the children born of such congress will be less likely to hunt down the invaders and take their revenge.

We have become a blight on this beautiful blue oasis in space. We prove over and over we cannot share peacefully this haven. We, or our leaders, continue to talk about limited war as if such a thing were possible. With violence, particularly with the weapons of today, there will ALWAYS be civilian deaths. No nation begins an attack without knowing this. That they accept it is what is morally indefensible. And always will be. No matter your purpose, whether it be noble or defensive, killing innocents is never okay, never has been and never will be. And no one should be silent on this point. If the innocents of this world, those not part of the cabals that run it, speak loudly enough, long enough, perhaps one day a realization that violence is never acceptable as a tool of policy will take root. On that day will begin freedom. Until it, if ever, comes, we are all complicit to the carnage our governments carry out on all of us, because when any innocent dies, so too, does a part of our collective soul. Is evil going to rule this world forever or will it one day be ruled by love? That is the overriding question at play in global politics today in my opinion. I hope someday it becomes the driving force behind all policy. Love is the answer to every question. Let's live that truth rather than this bloody, horrible, too-terrible-to-imagine version of life we are playing at now.

Thursday July 24, 2014, 4:51 pm
Noted. Thank you, Dandelion. Terribly wrong and terribly sad. In my "perfect" world, the leaders of the countries hawking for wars, should just fight each other and leave the rest of us out of it. So many good comments above!

Saturday July 26, 2014, 11:58 pm
Trouble seeing the article - but have read others comments. Gene's comment is (most sadly) true - how I wish we could evolve far enough not to be a blight on our most beautiful planet, and to live in peace and harmony with one another! (I rather like Lois' idea - to let the leaders of the countries duke it out [!]).

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